HW: Jerry Richards, Alan Davey, Lemm

[Ola Nyberg]

Bernhard (>) wrote:
>Hello Ola

>>I just remembered something I must have read in a HWFB newsletter or
>>perhaps in some issue of HF: A few years back HW did a tour (in Europe,
I
>>think) without Dave Brock (he was knackered or something). Yes, I know,
>>it sounds unbelievable, HW without Commander Brock! They were a
>>three-piece and some dude replaced Dave on guitar (and vocals?).

>The guy's name who replaced DAVE BROCK on the European Tour from
12.03.1991
>- 10.04.1991 is STEVE BEMAND.
>He is an old friend from RICHARD CHADWICK. Played with him in a band
called
>SMART PILS
>STEVE played on this tour guitar and was singing only OUT OF THE
SHADOWS.
>His guitar playing wasn't as good as DAVE BROCKS playing but he did a
good
>job especially on BACK IN THE BOX (he played the USA anthem)

I'm impressed! There's a lot of knowledge out there in Hawkverse, that's
for sure! And my friends think I'm crazy about dates and details...
Thanks, I'd totally forgotten the guy's name. What do you mean by the
"USA anthem"? Was _Back in the Box_ a USA anthem or what...?

>I've seen HAWKWIND on this tour 4 times and I enjoyed every gig very
close
>to the stage.
>The best gig on this tour was the longest gig HAWKWIND have ever played.
It
>was the 140 minutes gig in ATHEN (Greece) with a couple of outstanding
>mega-long songs!!!!!!

Is Hawkwind without the last founding member really Hawkwind? I can
imagine that the shows were good even without Dave, but isn't it a bit
like Motorhead without Lemmy?

>>Was this guitarist by any chance Jerry Richards?

>No. JERRY RICHARDS played with HAWKWIND (HAWKDOG) for the 1st time in
>autumn 1988.

Once again, hats off!

>His very 1st HAWKWIND gig was the ISLE OF MAN FESTIVAL on 07.06.1995

You said it.

>I AM STILL LOOKING FOR A TAPE FROM THIS GIG. Anybody out there who's got
it???

Not me, I don't have a lot of HW live tapes. Any good suggestions? Are
the WEIRD tapes worth getting? I know some of it is available on record.

>>Can the man sing?

>Not very good

>>(How could anyone replace Dave on a song like the Golden Void?

>Alan and Bridgett were singing GOLDEN VOID

Yes, I know (Bridgett on the Live Legends video, for example). I must say
that Alan never has been and probably never will be a good singer. Sure,
it sounds OK, when it's half-way drowned by swooshing (interesting
adjective there...) synths and stuff, but he just can't do any justice to
a track like _Golden Void_. I've heard him do it once in Sweden, and it
wasn't that great. Actually, he did almost all the vocals at the Uppsala
gig (must have been in 1991). Some roadie (!) sang the opening track
(_Needle Gun_) and it was a sacrilege... Then Alan sang almost all tunes,
apart from _Out of the Sadows_, I think. It was funny, because Alan kept
looking at Dave when the vocal part of a song that was usually sung by
Dave was about to start, and when it was clear to Alan that Dave wasn't
going to step up to the microphone, Alan started singing it. I was pretty
disappointed that night.... Dave must have had a sore throat or
something. Luckily, the Stockholm gig was excellent with all the Brock
vocals in place.

Don't get me wrong here, I think Alan was probably the best thing that
ever happened to the Hawks after Lemmy's departure. In fact, he was the
perfect replacement for Lemmy, and at the same time an injection of fresh
blood into Spaceship Hawkwind. Face it, the 1981-1983 stuff was below
par. Alan brought the drive back into Hawkwind.

*Lemmy* once said (during an interview I did in 1989, in fact) that
replacing him with *Paul Rudolph* was like replacing Bob Seger with Luke
Goss (from Bros, yuk!). A bit exaggerated, perhaps, but very
illustrating...

We all know that Alan sang all the Calvert tunes. My opinion is that it
was nice to hear some Calvert stuff again, but Alan didn't really do them
any justice. HOWEVER, Ron definitely does!

I have often thought of the fact that the following past or present
HawkCrew members have similar looks/styles:

Alan Davey - Lemmy (playing style)
Simon King - Richard Chadwick (playing style and looks)
Bob Calvert - Ron Tree (vocal style)

Do any HawkFreaks out there agree with me?
And judging by some messages on this list, Jerry Richards playing style
is close to Dave's! Is there any truth in that?

Cheers,

Ola